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Need a new L-Shaped Desk

P

prodigee

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 23, 2009
621
10
Brooklyn, NY
Just like the thread title says.

NOT the Ikea Galant because of price, and where I live getting one will be a pain.

Just a few details on what I would need in the desk.
1. A CORNER not a rounded edge a corner that I can put my 50 lb desktop rig on.
2. Room for a 22 inch monitor, 13" MBP, and study space (high school senior here)
3. Sturdy
4. Preferably a birch colored top.

Many thanks,

prodigee
 
I guess no one is reading this who has such a desk. You probably have to shop for it the old fashioned way: ask someone at a furniture store.
 
I don't know if you have a Costco near you, but we picked up this unit a little over a year ago.

11124263LL.jpg


Here's the purchase LINK

I don't recall it being that expensive when we bought it. We don't have the full thing with all of the accessories, just the the main corner desk with file drawer, hutch, and the work table wrap around. The little rounded endcap shelf is an extra piece even though it's in the picture above. The unit is a lot bigger than it looks in the picture and just about takes up our entire office. (spare bedroom) It's very sturdy and would handle your desktop unit with no problem.

Best of luck in your search.
 
That really is a nice desk, just along way out of my price range. I guess what I am looking for is a cheaper alternative to the IKEA Galant, the most important thing to me is that the corner is an actual corner.
 
I built my own. Get a couple of 2 by 4s and screw them into the walls, horizontally at the height of the desk. Get a big slab of wood to make the desk surface, MDF if you're cheap but you'll have to prime and paint it, and rest it on the 2x4s. Use ikea or other premade desk legs to hold up the corners that don't rest on the wall supports. Ikea has good looking plain black ones for $5 each. Finally put a couple of screws down through the desk surface into the 2x4s to keep the desk in place.

My desk's total cost was $27 including wood, paint, legs, and has a total area of 21 sq ft.

Another option is to get two drawer units to hold up the two ends of the L and a premade desk leg for the middle if needed. This way you don't have to damage your walls.
 
Ok so I can afford a bit more in a desk now, but the real thing is that I need the solid corner and a decent amount of length on each side for less than 300, and the galant just doesnt offer that, I was looking at the staples Z-Line Gemini, which would be perfect, but it doesnt have that solid corner, which is so important. I could look into building a desk, but where would I get the metal supports and what not to support it? I could make my own galant, but can you buy just the frame to it?
 
prodigee said:
Ok so I can afford a bit more in a desk now, but the real thing is that I need the solid corner and a decent amount of length on each side for less than 300, and the galant just doesnt offer that, I was looking at the staples Z-Line Gemini, which would be perfect, but it doesnt have that solid corner, which is so important. I could look into building a desk, but where would I get the metal supports and what not to support it? I could make my own galant, but can you buy just the frame to it?
Click to expand...

Home Depot/Lowe's is your friend in this case.
 
FWIW, this is my desk:

3974615342_0b9cb93a11_o.jpg


1 x Big Vika Amon table top $30
1 x Medium Vika Amon table top $20 (I already had it)
8 x Vika Curry legs $32 (I already had 4) (you could use only 6 of them to save $8)
2 small metal plates to hold them together in L. (~$2) It works really well, with absolutely no play, and virtually no gap between the two table tops.

Total: about 20sq.ft: $84

Because I hate cables, and like to have as much space as possible to put my own mess, I also made this for the router (it cost about 3€):
3973847557_13e2b0498e.jpg


For an extra $10 you can get the Signum cable grille and (almost) forget the cables:
3973848147_9954a4a3a6.jpg


I also had an Ikea PS cabinet (from back when they still made them in black). It's great because it comes with a hole at the bottom to put cables through (I made another hole in the back, at mid-height, to run the USB and FW cables)

This is the end result:

3974616616_7842b2b72f_o.jpg


On this picture, you can see:
A MacBook Pro.
Two speakers
Phone
Two keyboards
A Wacom tablet
A mouse
A monitor (alternating between the PC and the Mac)
The all in one printer
And, hidden:
A router
A whole desktop PC
External speakers for the PC
An iPod cable
An iPod shuffle dock
The MBP spare battery
A USB Hub
A FW 800 Sandisk CF card reader
A USB CF card reader velcro'd to the back of the monitor.
Ten (or so) USB and FW hard drives, that can all be connected at the same time to the Mac (except one or two), like the iPod, with the flip of a switch.

3974616294_a45747ff0a.jpg

3974616012_df7fa75a06.jpg


The multiplug under the table (on the Signum grille) powers everything that stays always on (the router and the Mac, namely, plus the lamp, phone, and speakers). There's another multiplug under the cabinet (it'll soon go inside) that powers everything that's not constantly on (printer, hard drives, PC, monitor...) so there's no unnecessary power loss.

I also got some cable staples to make sure cables stay on the wall (did I mention I hate cables?)

Oh, and I put a couple of those LED AA battery adhesive lamps in the cabinet to help me see if I need to connect something.

That's it :)
 
That is actually a really good idea, and I think that is what I am going to do. Definitely making a run to IKEA tomorrow.
 
@Juan Moro,

Can the desks really be supported by 6 legs and still support about 60 lbs? Because I want to have the corner open, so I can put stuff under there, and I need to put my gaming rig on top of that corner and it weighs about 60 lbs (I know its huge).

I plan to make an IKEA run sometime this week, I just couldn't get around to it yesterday. (Damn college applications).
 
60 pounds doesn't sound excessively heavy for a desk to support. If you don't have a leg there though, don't ever sit on that corner - to install, reach behind, etc. Never, ever do that! The leg in the back of the corner will suffice, especially if the 60 lbs. is pushed back in that direction.
 
That's what I was hoping the answer would be. I plan to get the 2 Vika's of the same size, and then buy a shelf and 2 small legs, and put it on top of the desk for storage, and the area under the shelf for a charging area, and various other things.
 
mscriv said:
Sounds like a good plan prodigee. Make sure to post pics when you're done so we can see how your project turns out.
Click to expand...

I will be sure to post pics, I am just not sure as to when I will be able to get the shelf, hopefully this week, but if not, the shelves will be a later addition. But I will get the desk for sure this week.
 
Well, this is what Ikea says (this is for the big one, for smaller ones, the rated weight would logically be, if anything, higher)

Length: 59 "
Width: 29 1/2 "
Thickness: 1 3/8 "
Max. load: 110 lb 4 oz

That's for the regular 4 legs/table top setup. I'd say if you put the weight over a properly supported end, you'll be all right. There will, however, be quite some stress at the junction of the two tables, so I'd put a leg around there, a bit further under the table so it doesn't get in the way.
 
Build your own. Thick MDF, some 2 x 2 inch timber, and birch effect laminate. It can fit the space you want, be the height, size and shape you want.

I did it to fit into the little shed that's also my Office. I can jump up and down on it and it doesn't budge :) And I have NO diy skills whatsoever.
 
djellison said:
Build your own. Thick MDF, some 2 x 2 inch timber, and birch effect laminate. It can fit the space you want, be the height, size and shape you want.

I did it to fit into the little shed that's also my Office. I can jump up and down on it and it doesn't budge :) And I have NO diy skills whatsoever.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of doing that, but what I had an issue with is that, I am sure that I would not have built it with the same durability, quality, and the ease to take it down and put it back up. I also did a cost comparison, and it really is about the same, so I am not worried about that.
 
juanm said:
1 x Big Vika Amon table top $30
1 x Medium Vika Amon table top $20 (I already had it)
8 x Vika Curry legs $32 (I already had 4) (you could use only 6 of them to save $8)
2 small metal plates to hold them together in L. (~$2) It works really well, with absolutely no play, and virtually no gap between the two table tops.
Click to expand...

do you know what size those mending plates were? and which size screws?
 
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